Dana White and Paulo Costa Dispute UFC Fight Offers

UFC CEO Dana White says Paulo Costa has turned down fight offers, while Costa says the promotion has not offered a bout on terms he would accept, leaving their disagreement over his final contracted fight unresolved. White addressed Costa’s complaints after Week 7 of Dana White’s Contender Series on Tuesday, September 22. He said the UFC had offered Costa fights and rejected the suggestion that the promotion was deliberately keeping the Brazilian inactive or refusing to pay him. White did not identify the alleged offers or specify their opponents, dates, weight classes, formats or financial terms. Costa said in a public statement on September 18 that he has one fight remaining on his UFC contract. He proposed three ways to resolve the dispute: a three-round light-heavyweight bout at his current pay, a five-round bout in six weeks for increased pay, or an immediate release from his contract. Costa’s account of the contract and offer history has not been independently established in the information available. The competing accounts leave a central question unanswered: whether any fights offered to Costa matched the format and compensation terms he says he would accept.